Off The Shelf: Avengers #1

Avengers #1

Writer:  Jonathan Hickman

Art:  Jerome Opena

Colors:  Dean White

Letterer:  VC’s Cory Petit

Cover:  Dustin Weaver and Justin Ponsor

Publisher:  Marvel Comics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Avengers #1 doesn’t lack ambition, nor does it lack scope, in fact it is pretty clear that  Jonathan Hickman, Jerome Opena, and of course Marvel, have high very hopes for this book.  They are however facing a nigh on impossible task, that of following up on one of the longest running and most successful Avengers runs in a long while. The question of the day then is did they deliver?

Whedon Confirmed for Avengers 2…and Avengers TV show?

It was reveled lat last night that Joss Whedon will be writing and directing The Avengers 2, not content with that great news however it also emerged that Whedon will be in charge of developing a Marvel studios TV show for the ABC network too.

Saying that this is cool and exciting is somewhat of an understatement, Whedon recently managed to pull off what many thought to be impossible, successfully uniting a big group of characters, played by big name actors into one film that simply blew the audiences minds.

Now I’m guessing that Whedon will have his work cut out for him with The Avengers 2 as it will most likely involve uniting The Avengers with The Guardians of the Galaxy in someway, effectively doubling the number of heroes involved in the story. I’m not worried though, if anyone can do it, Joss can do it.

As for this TV series, this is possibly more exciting to me than than Whedons return to the Avengers directors chair, as it will broaden Whedons canvas enormously. The idea of there being a weekly show (complete with cliff hangers, remember those!) that gets to explore the Marvel movie Universe outside of the films is great news. Even if Whedon will not be able to oversee this on a week to week basis, he will no doubt ave a huge input into the series and there is a talented team of writers he can call on from his previous TV work.

Don’t forget that the rights to the Silver Surfer and Galactus are likely on their way back to Marvel not to mention the vast stable of character that could be introduced in the TV series and the inevitable cross overs that will occur with the films. So yeah this might be pretty good!

Off The Shelf: Avengers Vs X-men #9

Avengers vs X-Men #9

Writers: Jason Aaron, Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Jonathan Kickman and Matt Fraction

Pencils: Adam Kubert

Colors: Laura Martin, Larry Molinar

Publisher: Marvel Comics

 

 

 

 

You know, for a minute there I thought they were gonna do it, I thought that the A vs X writing team were going to pull this series out of the fire and finally kill somebody important. Sadly not however, the team bottled it (again) and in doing so plunged what could have been a classic comic into the doldrums of mediocrity.

It’s not that Avengers Vs X-men #9 is a bad book, it’s not, it’s well drawn well written and pretty involving but at times I wish that the writers would just show a little more courage. There are several pages in #9 where it looks like this story is finally going to get serious, that the members of the Avengers are in serious peril, but all of this good work is undone in a last act which, although well written, nicely illustrated and often exciting, manages to destroy any sense of suspense the writers have created and is just a little too silly.

All gripes aside this is a pretty good Spider-man issue and fans of the web-slinger will find plenty to enjoy here including plenty of his signature witty dialogue, even if he does get his ass handed to him by Colossus. I just can’t get over the feeling that the writers of this series have been shackled by having to adhere to the sanctified central canon of the Marvel universe and that this series would have been much better had it been treated as a non-canon series where the writers could really just go nuts.

Well the last act will be with us soon enough (#10 due next week) and with just one member of the Phoenix five standing I have my fingers crossed that the writers will finally deliver something big and soon, they better or this series may well prove to be one of Marvels most forgettable.

Off The Shelf: Hawkeye #1

Hawkeye #1

Writer: Matt Fraction

Artist: David Aja

Cover Artist(s): David Aja & Matt Hollingworth

Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth

Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos

Publisher: Marvel Comics

 

 

 

Following his big screen debut  in Thor back in 2011 and his more prominent role this year in the hugely successful Avengers, Hawkeye has been thrust into the spot light. As a result Marvel have seen fit to give the master of archery his own solo series with writing duties falling to the hugely talented Matt Friction of Invincible Iron Man and The Mighty Thor fame. So is it worth picking up?

The answer to that question, as far as I’m concerned anyway, is definitely yes, although for a Hawkeye comic it is surprisingly light on Hawkeye. You see this book doesn’t tell what you might call a typical super hero style story, with Fraction instead focusing on Clint Barton the man who, although he is recovering from some serious injuries, takes on a corrupt Russian landlord.

This more human story is in itself very well written and provides some quirky insights into what makes Barton tick as well as featuring some nice natural feeling dialogue. The main point Fraction is trying to communicate here is that, while Hawkeye is no Iron Man or Captain Marvel, he is still very much an Avenger which is made clear through the actions he takes in this good  samaritan story.

I also have to talk about the art style of the book, which is utterly fantastic. David Aja has done some great work as lead artist here, with the heavily stylized, chunky line drawings working superbly well within his inventive and often unpredictable page layouts. Matt Hollingsworths coloring is also superb and together ha and Aja have managed to pack each and every page with huge amounts of personality. The cover art for this issue is also sublimely iconic and is definitely one I would consider framing.

The fantastic story alone is enough to warrant a purchase of this book, however the additional qualities such as the great lead character, snappy dialogue and beautiful artwork, as far as I’m concerned, make Hawkeye essential reading.

Marvel Movies Comic Con Round-Up

As I said in my previous Iron Man 3 post, Marvel was set to release more information about their forthcoming projects. Here is my view on them…

First up, the surprise showing of Edgar Wright’s test footage of Ant-Man. Most people were probably expecting to be shown this but not quite what they saw. You see Edgar Wright’s footage shows how he’d use his abilities to change size to do battle with Wright himself saying “He’ll kick your ass one inch at a time.” If what I’ve heard about this is as good as it sounds then I’m sold. I’m not too surprised it has gone down this route as Edgar Wright’s ability is perfectly suited for this movie. No dates have been announced just yet (the footage was unfinished bare in mind) and probably won’t do till The World’s End is wrapped up at least.

Next up is the confirmed announcement of the Guardians of the Galaxy movie with concept art for the team. So who’s in the team? From left to right:

• Drax The Destroyer, a super powered alien who’s main goal is to destroy Thanos
• Groot, a super smart plant like being who is able to regenerate to his full self whatever he’s reduced to.
• Star Lord aka Peter Quill, a former astronaut turned intergalactic space cop who wields his powers via his suit and forms the Guardians…it can happen!
• Rocket Raccoon, a talking anthropomorphic space raccoon who is a tactical genius and leader of the guardians who is every bit awesome as he sounds!
• Finally we have Gamora, adopted daughter of Thanos.

This is certainly a very bold and risky move from Marvel, really playing into the intergalactic/sci-fi elements that were touched in the first Avengers movie. It’ll be interesting to see how they market this, as this is very different from the previous films. It also sets up Thanos as the big bad for the Avengers sequel quite well. No director/casting has been confirmed and this is only concept art so a lot may change between now and the release date, August 1st 2014.

Finally we got more details of the Iron Man, Thor & Captain America sequels. Firstly it has been confirmed that Ben Kingsley is playing Madarin in Iron Man 3 which doesn’t surprise me but still a bit annoying they didn’t actually get an Asian actor to play him. The parts that Guy Pearce (Killain) and Rebecca Hall (Maya Hansen) as well. Shane Black revealed that this is more of a personal affair for Tony Stark revealing that he’s set to hit rock bottom but won’t be referring to the “Demon in the Bottle” storyline as the cast/director all said it just wouldn’t suit the tone of the movie. This looks like a great move as Iron Man 2 was bogged down by doing too much to tie everything in to the Avengers rather than Tony Stark. Iron Man 3 is set to be released May 3rd next year.

There was also reveals for Thor & Captain America with both having expanded titles. First Thor 2 will be called “Thor: The Dark World” which implies it will expand on the world of Asgard rather than keeping Thor Earth-bound. This could lead to some really outlandish/interesting visuals if this is done right. Thor: The Dark World will be released August 11th next year.

Finally, Captain America 2 will be “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”. This title of course references The Winter Soldier aka Bucky. The story goes that it is believed that Bucky died during WW2 but is in fact alive but badly injured. The Russians then brainwash and fix him up to be an assassin. Now in theory this sounds really daft but in the comics it actually works with him eventually becoming a good guy again and taking the title of Captain America himself. Captain America: Winter Soldier is set for a April 4th release in 2014.

And that just about covers everything! It’s great to see Marvel really going for it, making the universe on screen as broad as possible and taking some big risks in the process.

Birdemic 2!?

Apparently we asked for it and it seems that yes, James Nguyen is making a sequel for Birdemic. Not much is really known about this sequel other than it’s name Birdemic 2: The Resurrection and that you should be breaking down in tears right about now. For those who haven’t heard of the first film, Birdemic was basically waht you’d get if you decided to remake Alfred Hitchcock’s Th Birds. Minus the budget…and any good acting…and good effects…in fact just minus talent, full stop. The full extent of how bad it got, juct watch the clip below…

Yep, pretty awful but boy was it glorious! Yeah it was one of those so bad it was great films. So why all the resistance to a sequel? Remember when Tommy Wiseau started trying to be funny? Yeah, pretty awful. You don’t get so bad it’s good movie by trying to make a bad movie on purpose. It only works when you go out to make a good movie and fail…badly.

Also any idea why they’re doing the Shawarma scene shown after the credits in the US showings of The Avengers? I know it’s popular but still a strange scene to copy.